CARC Research Computing Facilitator

The Research Computing Facilitation Specialist is a vital member of the CARC Research Facilitation Team at the University of New Mexico's Center for Advanced Research Computing (CARC). This role supports faculty, researchers, and students across various academic fields, including chemistry, biology, physics, and mathematics, by assisting them in effectively utilizing computing systems for research and education.

The Specialist works closely with Principal Investigators (PIs), lab managers, and IT teams to design, build, and maintain Linux-based servers, workstations, and virtual machines that meet the unique needs of research projects. This includes installing and maintaining scientific and analytical software, troubleshooting issues, and helping research groups transition to CARC's high-performance computing or cloud environments when needed. The specialist will also assist researchers in designing computational science workflows using cutting edge data science tools such as artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure.

This role requires a strong foundation in Linux system administration, effective communication with non-technical and highly technical users, and excellent collaboration and presentation skills.

Key Responsibilities

• Uses discretionary judgement to consult with users, including research PIs, staff, and their students, and/or other university departments to collect information/gather requirements for existing or proposed research computing projects including network, security and computing devices, server systems, multiuser applications, and/or databases including capacity planning, security, data safety and integrity, disaster recovery, and upgrade planning. Provides input regarding design and cost, coordinates tasks for the installation/maintenance of networks or systems.
• Participates in the development of and provides individual and/or group instruction and/or training on research computing operating systems and other applications; assists users in maximizing use of networks and computing systems; may supervise or provide functional direction to assigned staff and/or student employees.
• Recommends solutions for multiple medium-scale network, hardware, software or system security projects in support of the unit''s strategic goals; uses judgment in selecting among authorized procedures or alternatives and seeks assistance when guidelines are inadequate, significant deviations are proposed, or when unanticipated problems arise.
• Maintains hardware, software, licensing, access, security, and system documentation; recommends, installs, configures, and troubleshoots research software, including Python, R, MATLAB, and C/C++ libraries; and develops procedures and user guides to support reproducibility.
• Participates in the investigation, planning, implementation, testing, and debugging of Linux based network or systems hardware components and applications including research servers, workstations, and virtual machines (on-premise or cloud-based).
• Plans and implements defense-in-depth system security in coordination with UNM Information Security and CARC IT, including firewall configuration, network security, host security, and file-system integrity, and provides security recommendations to PIs.
• Manages user access by implementing roles and permissions, maintaining file and directory permissions, and adding, modifying, or removing users according to established policies and business rules.
• Troubleshoots and resolves technical issues of moderately advanced complexity and provides regular support for network, hardware, software and/or system security services including user access and computer configuration via CARC ticketing systems, email, and in-person consultation.
• Evaluates and tests new or modified software programs and software development procedures used to verify that programs function according to user requirements and conform to established guidelines and best practices.
• Maintains currency of knowledge with respect to relevant state-of-the-art technology, equipment, and/or systems.
• Assist research groups with migrating or scaling workloads to CARC's HPC systems or cloud platforms when local resources are insufficient.
• May be responsible for administration and oversight of small to medium scale technology projects.
• Configures and supports AI-assisted and agent-based tools and workflows for research computing, automation, troubleshooting, and documentation while following applicable security, privacy, and data-governance requirements.
• Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of relevant state-of-the-art technology, equipment, and/or systems.
• Hands-on experience building and configuring server-class hardware, including BIOS setup, RAID array configuration, and hardware-level troubleshooting.
• Knowledge and understanding of university policy, federal and state regulations as they apply to security, privacy, intellectual property and information system management.
• Knowledge of systems integration and automation techniques and tools.
• Demonstrated skills in the design, development, implementation and testing of complex integrated network, hardware, software and system security solutions to organizational requirements.
• Problem analysis and resolution skills as applied to the installation, maintenance, modification, and troubleshooting of network, hardware, software and system security services.
• Demonstrate good presentation skills and ability to communicate complicated ideas effectively